The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

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When these technologies become pervasive, and some are pretty close (Runkeeper passed the 5 Million user mark in March), the barriers to adoption will be mainly cultural.

The future is in you

In their wonderful book (“Your Life, Uploaded”) Gordon Bell and Jim Gemmell walk us through the techniques they have used to collect their own data. Bell and Gemmel encourage readers to engage in life-logging (as opposed to life-blogging, which you can witness on sites like Facebook or Foursquare). You must read this book if you want to understand the history of personal data and get a glimpse of what the future has in store for us. This work reminds us that, beyond sharing experiences as they happen, in very transactional ways (“I’m having coffee at Jody’s”), we should realize that our daily activities amount to a large number of data points, which in isolation might appear meaningless but in aggregate could inform us better about our lives.

Think this is too much about too little? Think again. According to futurists, such intelligent tracking won’t happen via external devices like smartphones or even data tracking outfits like the E39, but will happen from inside our bodies. In his latest movie, Transcendent Man, Ray Kurzweil foresees that nanobots will soon inhabit our bodies, help us keep track of our conditions and treat us accordingly and automatically (a phenomenon referred to as Singularity).

Soon, according to Michio Kaku, chips will be so small and inexpensive, that intelligence will be inserted everywhere into our world. Our bodies will become the platform for data tracking and sharing. You won’t need to check in using Foursquare on your phone; your body will do it for you.

Prepare to invest in the self-tracking movement. If you thought social networks were the end game, adjust your pacemaker… it’s just the beginning.